CII suggests 10-point agenda for growth

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 1

From governance issues to revitalising manufacturing sector to creating an enabling environment, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) submitted a 10-point agenda for growth of Punjab to the Congress government, ahead of the Assembly elections. The industry body feels, the agenda should be part of the election manifesto and should be taken up by the incumbent party at the earliest.

According to the recommendations, the state is facing diverse challenges such as youth migration & unemployment, drug abuse, stagnation in agriculture, depleting water table and fiscal challenges. It suggests that the government needs concerted efforts to address these issues to fulfil Punjab’s vision of sustained growth of over eight to nine per cent.

The recommendations were submitted to Gurkirat Singh, Minister for Industries, Commerce, IT & Science and Technology, during an interactive session at the CII here today.

The 10-point plan focuses on the development of a coherent industrial strategy and a commitment to restoring that will help build the domestic capability and supply chain. It also calls on more dedicated manufacturing areas & focal points, dedicated industrial infrastructure to MSMEs, time-bound approval for building plan and factory maps and standard dispute resolution mechanism etc.

Responding to industrialists, Gurkirat Singh said, “We have achieved a lot in the last four and half years, however there is much more that needs to be done. I have taken note of the issues and suggestions made by you. I assure you that we will make them part of our manifesto.”

“As a business-centric government, we have identified the needs of the industry especially in terms of infrastructure,” he added. The state has recently reached the milestone of having investments worth Rs1.02 lakh crore under various stages of implementation, he said.